SACRAMENTO, Calif. — It didn’t take James Harden long to make his mark.
Harden and the Cavs rallied in the fourth quarter to escape with a 132-126 win over the crumbling Sacramento Kings on Saturday night. It’s Cleveland’s third straight victory and eighth in the last nine games.
It was a shaky start — for Harden and the Cavs.
While waiting for the pre-deadline blockbuster trade to officially go through, Harden was unable to practice with his new team. Early on, he seemed to be finding his way. Same with the Cavs who went down 15-8 in the first four-plus minutes, causing coach Kenny Atkinson to call the first timeout of the game.
Cleveland trailed 31-25 after one quarter.
But it opened the second on an energetic 15-2 run, led by former Kings Dennis Schroder and Keon Ellis — part of the _other_ deadline deal that has fortified this championship hopeful roster.
By the end of those turnaround 12 minutes, the Cavs had outscored Sacramento, 32-24, taking a two-point lead into the halftime locker room.
The third quarter started a lot like the first, with Cleveland looking out of sync on offense and unable to get stops consistently at the other end. The Kings, who entered the night on an 11-game losing streak, were back in front by double digits at the 4:56 mark.
That’s when the Cavaliers’ rebuilt bench ignited another late-quarter run, erasing that deficit and temporarily reclaiming the advantage about two minutes later — part of an 11-0 burst.
Despite that, Cleveland trailed by three going into the fourth quarter.
Star guard and leading scorer Donovan Mitchell scored Cleveland’s first 11 points in the final period — before temporarily giving way to Harden who checked back in with around eight minutes left in the game and the Cavs trailing by two.
Moments later, Harden’s transition triple put Cleveland ahead by one.
Only the young, feisty Kings wouldn’t go away, taking a two-point lead with 4:48 left and then extending it to seven — until Cleveland responded with an 8-0 run that was punctuated by a wide-open go-ahead 3 from Harden.
Sacramento pulled back even with 42.5 seconds left on DeMar DeRozan’s clutch 3.
Mitchell answered with a forceful drive that earned him two free throws. He made both. And then Harden closed out the W at the free-throw line.
Harden, who missed his first three shots of the night, finished with 23 points, 15 of which came in the fourth quarter, on 7 of 13 shooting to go with eight assists in 32 minutes.
Mitchell led the way, erupting for 35 points, including 17 in the fourth quarter.
Jarrett Allen added 29 points and 10 rebounds.
The Kings were led by youngster Nique Clifford who had 30 points. Six others reached double figures.
It might not have been _exactly_ what Cleveland envisioned on Tuesday, when finalizing the widely reported franchise-altering trade. But in the fourth quarter, when it mattered most, the Cavs’ two stars showed a glimpse of what they can become.
**Up next**
The Cavs will wrap up this road trip on Monday night against the Denver Nuggets. Tipoff is set for 9 p.m.